TRUMBULL COUNTY His failure to pay restitution lands Flask in a court hearing

The special prosecutor also will discuss how Flask performed community service.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Nearly three years after being convicted of improperly accepting $2 million, Edward A. Flask, a former Mahoning Valley Sanitary District director, has repaid only a fraction of court-imposed restitution.
Flask was scheduled to appear today in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court for violating the terms of his probation.
Special prosecutor Victor Vigluicci says he will talk to visiting Judge Richard Markus about Flask's restitution payments and also the manner in which he has performed the 200 hours of court-ordered community service.
As part of his sentence, Flask was ordered to repay the Ohio Ethics Commission for the $78,562 cost of his investigation. So far, he has paid $1,240 since July 2001.
At the rate he is going, it would take Flask more than 100 years to pay off his debt, said David E. Freel, ethics commission executive director.
"That really is the money of the citizens of the state, especially the citizens of Northeast Ohio who had to put up with his corruption," he said.
Flask pleaded guilty to two felonies and seven misdemeanors relating to his acceptance of money and gifts from people who did business with MVSD.
The sanitary district supplies water from Meander Reservoir to 300,000 customers in Mahoning and Trumbull counties through member cities Youngstown and Niles.
Sentence
In September 2000, Judge Markus sentenced Flask to 90 days in jail and imposed a $5,000 fine, as well as restitution and community service.
Flask's probation officer, Sandra Palumbo, declined to comment or to say if Flask had been on a repayment schedule.
In a letter to the ethics commission, she said she will ask the judge to order Flask to make monthly payments and extend his probation from three to five years.
Flask and his attorney could not be reached.
Flask filed for bankruptcy in 2001, but withdrew his petition after the ethics commission and Ohio attorney general objected.
siff@vindy.com